First of all, Cosplay Mania has been a
blast for me. Regardless of the hardships I encountered on both days of the
event. It amazed me how star studded the event was. Inviting seiyuus we all
love and cosplayers we go gaga all over. The Japanese singers are all fantastic.
Even though I only knew a few of the songs they performed, I kept my head
banging, my hand keep swaying and I keep on shouting cheers till my voice got
hoarse. Even the creators of Yuri on Ice was a huge bomb to me, having them
tell us the secret behind the success of the anime and we even got the chance
to see something exclusive. In these part of the event I wish for them to keep
up the good work. Having good relations to other countries especially Japan,
the home of our beloved anime, should be maintained and nourished.
But because this has been a huge event,
there have been problems that arise. Day 1 was hell. Yep, that was one way to
describe it. I usually arrive early for events like this but I made sure that
on day 1 I will arrive much earlier than my usual. I came around 7AM but the
line was already long. At first I didn't mind that. It's the usual, I would
say. But after they opened the door for entry and an hour already passed but my
line didn't even budge a bit.
Most of the people lining up are already complaining
because its really hot. I'm starting to get irritated too because a girl suddenly
cut in between me and the group in front of me, thinking that it was the end of
the line. Good thing she realized her mistake and looked for the end of the
line. That made me ask why. Why is the line so messy and taking forever to
move.
I've been attending cons for years and I even arrive late at some but the
usual was 12 in the afternoon most of the line are already gone and most of
congoers are already having a blast inside. But on day 1, the show already
started but the attendees are still outside. I missed the first sched for the
meet and greet.
At around 12 noon I am almost desperate because the Yuri on Ice
panel will start at 1 and I'm still outside. 12:30 and I finally entered the
SMX only to be shoved to another line for the tyvek. Then it dawned to me what
is making the line move slower. It was this tyvek system that they changed.
That instead of doing it in the entrance itself so that the congoers are
directly entering the con area, they made another line for the tyvek booth. Its
like we need to line up four times for the entrance itself. Other says that we
shouldn't complain about the long line because its the usual on events like
this. Yes its true. But will you complain if you fall in line at SM mega's
staircase and SMX hallways with aircons and away from the glaring sun. Nope.
Its the heat that they made us to endure that triggered our hot headedness.
All in all the staff was unprepared for the
crowd. To think that they should have an estimate of attendees based on the pre-selling
of ticket they made. We even bought the ticket earlier so it would spare us the
line for the ticket buying but it all became meaningless.
After the hellish and chaotic line I
finally got inside and started enjoying myself. Strolling from booth to booth,
buying merchs. Watched the Yuri on Ice Panel, the only reason why I attended
day 1 and then stroll again to get pics from cosplayers. When all of a sudden I
encountered the best moment of my life, I turn around and there she is, my
idol, Hikarin.
Starstruck and dumbfounded I didn't notice her anxiousness...
She was stuck in the crowd on her way to the stage and even her assistants are
clueless as to what to do. Another evidence of unpreparedness. Then I heard one
of the fans says that Hikarin was sad because no one was buying for her meet
and greet. Sorry to Hikarin and other guests but your fans are all trapped
outside. And the most astonishing thing is Hikarin was the first to apologise to
her fans that waited outside and didn't even get the chance to see her. Take
note, not the Cosplay Mania organizers who first apologise but the guest
themselves even though they have nothing to do in managing the event. How was
that?
I gave another chance for day 2. I even
arrived an hour earlier than yesterday. Luckily, my friends will all be
attending so there is someone I could talk to while waiting. I hold a gold
ticket and our line moved faster than yesterday so its a thumbs up for that
improvement. They added another lane for the VIP and Gold which is good too
because on day 1, silver moved faster than the VIP lane that made people more irritated.
I also noticed the increase of police and security personnel.
On day 1 a friend
of mine lost her iPhone and others among her line lost their phone too. The
lack of security is alarming so I'm glad they added it up on day 2. I enjoyed
taking pictures with my friend and waited for the guests meet and greet.
But
alas we weren't able to attend because we don't have a stub that they did not
explain how to get or where to get. I heard that you need to buy something for
the meet and greet. We all thought that it was already part of the gold ticket
since its one of the halls we could access. They did not explain that part thoroughly
so our efforts in lining up are in vain. We even missed the Seiyuu's stage
appearance for that. We even lined up an hour earlier for the Jam concert.
When
we got inside, they imposed the rule of no photo and video recording, same as
their other program. Me and my friends enjoyed the Jam. Singing, waving,
dancing along with the guests singers. But what annoyed me is that, one of the
organizer will walk in front of us every minute waving the signboard saying no
photo and video recording. Its really disturbing how we are in the height of
jam and they will appear in front of us. They could have make it every after
song or the in between rest of the singers. I know they really want to be
strict for the guests sake but they could have done it better. Its not only the
guest that are important, the fans too waited for this moment for a long time
not just to be pissed by their crappy management. In short if not for my
friends sharing the same pain as me, I would have felt the same way as day 1.
Yes the Cosplay Mania is the best. What
they offer, the guests they brought and how they presented them to us are the
best. But how they treated the fans and congoers are the worst.
Written by Ailene Amihan (Hikari Kaze)
Ross is known as the Pambansang Blogger ng Pilipinas - An Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Professional by profession and a Social Media Evangelist by heart.
